Universal Orlando Update – Horror Hack, Ride Cuts & Lonely Anniversaries

Turning 30 is a big deal, and it’s usually celebrated with a big party. Or at least, that’s how it was in the good ol’ days of yesteryear… This year, Universal Orlando will be celebrating its big 3-0 in a much smaller fashion, and with far fewer guests than expected. But it’s not all bad news: the spirit of Halloween Horror Nights is alive and well, plus construction continues around the parks. Let’s take a look at what’s new this week at Universal Orlando!

Halloween Horror Nights Lives On…

With the sad news of Universal’s premier Halloween event being canceled for 2020, there’s a bit of a silver lining for park-goers despite the forces of nature: Universal has opened their Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store!

The immersive shop opened earlier last week, celebrating legendary themes and characters from Halloween Horror Nights past, and features a collection of throwback merchandise, exclusive art and more. Let’s take a look!

For now, the Tribute Store takes up two themed rooms. With socially-distanced one-way traffic, the entrance leads you into the first room: the lab of Frankenstein.

This room features classic Universal Monsters merchandise. Frankenstein’s Monster acts as the centerpiece, pulsing with electricity.

 

Moving into the second room, a terrifying Jack the Clown welcomes you… 

Jack the Clown was the first original icon created for Halloween Horror Nights. Based on the available merch and this room’s overall theme, it seems like the event’s 30th anniversary was going to draw from the various and numerous HHN icons from years past.

 

The merchandise highlight, however, is this year’s “30 Years 30 Fears” collection which celebrates event milestones; starting with the very first, known as Universal Studios Fright Nights.

These throwback designs are for sale as posters, t-shirts, shot glasses, socks and more:

  

Another retro-looking shirt is reminiscent of a comic book, dubbed as “the 30th issue”, and features an all-new character: The Pumpkin Lord. Perhaps we’ll see more of these characters at next year’s events?

In addition to HHN-related goods, exclusive art and oddities can be found throughout the two rooms:

A 3rd room will be opening at the Tribute Store soon, the theme is a mystery for now!

Can’t make it to the park? Some of this year’s HHN merchandise is available online here.

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And… Cut!

Since theme parks are operating under an extremely limited capacity after an extended closure, we’re starting to see the repercussions. Universal’s daily attendance has been scarce, barely meeting the lower-capacity limits. Their quarterly reports show overall revenue is down 94%. (And just think of how much they’ll lose after no HHN this year… this virus can seriously go away now.)

In an earnings call, executives said attendance levels are significantly lower at the reopened parks, but noted the parks are in a better financial position being open rather than remaining closed. However, a second round of Team Member layoffs is in the works, adding to the previous dismissals from June. Also confirmed on the earnings call, Universal’s 4th                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Universal states:

“We have again made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce to reflect current priorities and needs. As always, we are aware of the impact this will have on those affected by this decision and their families. We are grateful for their contribution and we will support them through this process with severance pay, subsidized health benefits and reemployment assistance. We continue to have confidence in the long term future for our business, our industry and our community.”

With less guest attendance and Team Members heading back to work, Universal has confirmed the temporary closure of labor-heavy (and some less popular) attractions, beginning August 9th:

• A Day in the Park with Barney
• Fast & Furious – Supercharged
• Fear Factor Live
• Kang & Kodos’ Twirl ‘n’ Hurl
• Poseidon’s Fury
• Storm Race Accelatron

Thankfully, Universal has confirmed the Team Members working at these locations will be transferred to other attractions. 

VelociConstruction

While plans for Universal’s Epic Universe are paused, one project is moving full steam ahead…

Construction on the unannounced Jurassic Park coaster (deemed as the “Velocicoaster”) is quickly moving along. Most recently, the highest point of the coaster was installed. Now, interior work begins! This is expected to be a real thrill, with speeds of up to 70 mph and inversions. The ride is also rumored to contain at least two show scenes, probably involving the raptors and Chris Pratt’s character, Owen Grady, from Jurassic World.

Of course, there’s no word on an opening date yet. With immersive dinosaur scenes, high-speeds, inversions and drops… this is sure to be a fan-favorite! Is it weird that I’m just as excited for the queue experience? 

What’s It Like Now?

This was my first time back to Universal Orlando Resort since my “muggle trip” last year! Now that I’m more familiar with the park’s offerings (and I’ve been sorted into the Hufflepuff house), I was excited to be back. I was also looking forward to observing Universal’s health and safety guidelines since I’ve only visited Walt Disney World upon Orlando’s reopening through the pandemic. 

I arrived at the parks around 9:30AM, 30 minutes before Island of Adventure’s opening…

While the park is pretty empty at opening, you can tell where the “rope-drop” crowd is headed as they pass through Suess Land and the Lost Continent…

 

…Hogsmeade for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike, of course!

Something that I appreciate; there are plenty of live-audio reminders to keep your mask on. It felt like every 1 out of 20 guests were wearing it below their nose. Attraction operators are monitoring and announce that if you are not wearing a mask over your mouth and nose, you will be asked to leave — and I did see a few repeat offenders actually escorted from Hagrid’s queue.

While the opening 10 o’clock hour offered easy back-to-back motorbike joyrides, I found it more difficult to navigate the tighter areas of Hogsmeade after 12pm.

Even with the seemingly-busier areas, the popular Wizarding World attractions barely rose above 20 minutes – including Hagrid’s, which never even made it to Virtual Queue access on this particular day due to low crowd levels overall.

While most of Universal and Islands offer wider walkways, bottlenecking mostly occurs within the more-intimate lands of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. 

The locker and ride entrance for Gringott’s causes some crowding up ahead:

Once inside Gringotts Bank, it’s easy to keep your distance again.

The preshow and “elevator” down to the vaults are turned off, now acting as part of the walk-through queue – no stopping needed:

Back out in Diagon Alley, some areas are quieter than others:

This was one of the least crowded gift shops. Though, I would be extra cautious if you need to pick up any souvenirs in Wizarding World as most of their shops are pretty close quarters. As an alternative, all of the outdoor merchandise kiosks are open and available.

While in Diagon Alley, I had lunch at Leaky Cauldron. Guests queue up inside, place a mobile order on their phone and are escorted to a table. A Team Member then picks up their mobile order number and retrieves the meal once it’s ready. 

  

Exiting Diagon Alley and moving onto other areas of Universal Studios…

Walkways here offer ample space for proper social distancing. Plus, there’s not that many people occupying the park now!

Over in Hollywood, we found quite a few characters out safely greeting guests and posing for photos:

In the Central Park area, a new crêperie kiosk is opening soon:

I’m always down for new park snacks, especially French cuisine… I can’t wait to try these soon!

On my way out, I checked out some of the latest merch at the Studios Store…

I’m in love with these vintage vibes. Universal Orlando Resort hit its 30-year mark in June of this year – this is a fun celebratory throwback collection!

The retro logo can also be seen on face masks, along with some newer Minions and Hogwarts house designs:

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Closing Thoughts & Tips

Universal is doing a very good job in creating a safer and clean environment during the pandemic. It’s the other guests you’ll need to worry about. There were a few instances where guests were trailing behind me in ride queues. I either motioned for them to stay back or told them to “please pass me.”

I also had trouble finding a safe place to stop and enjoy some ice cream from Florian Fortescue’s in Diagon Alley. Even while standing against a wall in a seemingly empty area, the occasional inconsiderate guests chose to walk directly in front of me with mere inches between us, while there was plenty of space to keep a safe distance. I observed maskless guests in the area walking while eating, blatantly ignoring the rules.

Team Members reminded guests to keep their masks on and maintain distance here and there, but I feel this could be better enforced in the busier areas of Wizarding World, as they are the crowd-magnets right now.

Besides those busier afternoon times in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, I found it very easy to keep a safe distance in the parks. Like Disney, Universal has laid the groundwork to keep us as safe as they can under the circumstances – the rest is up to us, the guests, to do the right things.

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Post-Visit Survey

A few days after visiting Universal, I received an online survey via email. Most of the questions pertained to my newly-obtained annual pass and when I plan to next visit the Universal Orlando Resort. Then, the survey asked if I was also a Walt Disney World annual passholder. Answering positively generated a few more WDW-related questions:

These questions make it pretty clear how Universal gauges their audience – while the majority of current park-goers are their passholders… they know guests typically add Universal onto their Disney trips.

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